Spellbound by the Sea Lord

by Starla Night

  Bella looked at Aya. A merman did work for the Sons of Hercules.

  Aya replied, “You can’t. Let us know if you see him again.”

  “I haven’t studied the security videos myself, but I will do my best. He wasn’t like any of your warriors but everyone knows the rest don’t surface, so the night watchman thought, well, maybe another had come up and wasn’t in the binder.”

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Aya commented, swimming them away from the anchor and toward the new city. “The sniffles are terrible.”

  “Mitch and I had the same symptoms, but he didn’t drink enough of the elixir. Or girls don’t get it as bad as boys; the night watchman’s ill, but the lady who substitutes seems to be like me, nominally fine. Now Mitch is in the hospital with a fever. Mine could have been so much worse. Where’s Pelan?”

  “We’re heading to him now. And how did you shift at the surface? Did you kiss a merman?”

  “I kissed all the mermen!” She wiggled her feet, trying to help Aya along and instead causing drag. “I was so terrified it wouldn’t work, and I just had to reach Pelan. I kissed them all to be safe.”

  Aya glanced back at the group of warriors clustered at the anchor bolt.

  They had a cocky attitude. The others gathered around with rapt interest.

  “I suspect escort duty will be even more popular than it already is,” she murmured. “Ciran will have his hands full keeping the rotations fair.”

  “I know it was a bit much, but I had to see him.” Roxanne swallowed, and her jaw trembled. “It was so hard seeing him and talking to him when he was so sick. I just wanted to give Nora a break. She’s the real hero. But when you said that she wasn’t his bride and maybe I…that maybe I could be the one…” She made a determined fist. “I had to get to him as fast as possible.”

  Roxanne’s determination was inspiring. She’d known Pelan was her soul mate even as she’d talked herself out of it because he’d been supposed to be with another. But she’d known. And now she had to be with him.

  Just like Bella had to be with Balim.

  She let go of Aya’s hand. “I’m leaving.”

  Aya pulled up. “What?”

  “With Jonah, I had no choice but with Balim, I do.”

  Aya shook her head in confusion.

  Jonah had been sick. If she could have dropped her work to be in the hospital at all hours, she would have been there.

  Now Balim was sick in his soul, and she had a choice.

  “What about the Sons of Hercules?” Aya asked.

  “What if their next message is even more impossible? Coming down here with that vial was a mistake, and if a second one shows up, Balim won’t save me. Our only chance is together. I have to be with him.”

  “Me too.” Roxanne tugged her hand free. “You two talk. I can see the city. I’ll swim on, and you catch up. I was a member of the swim team, you know.”

  “Oh, me too,” Aya said in surprise.

  “See you directly.” Roxanne wiggled her human feet, not put off because she barely moved.

  Aya let Roxanne go and tapped her index finger against her temple. “Balim didn’t exactly save you.”

  “I am going after him.”

  “You can’t, Bella. I’m sorry.”

  She smiled archly at Aya. “I’m not asking your permission. I am an adult woman, and I’m giving you the courtesy of my intentions so you don’t worry.”

  “You can’t make your fins yet. How will you ever catch him?”

  The non-melodious sounds of the giant octopus drifted beneath their argument.

  “I’ll ask a friend.” She jackknifed and kicked toward the sea floor. “Octopus Kong? I have a slight favor for a big, strong octopus who kicks megalodon butt.”

  The massive cephalopod drifted from his cave.

  “How do you feel about going on a wild adventure to stop a plague, rescue a child, and save the mer-human world?”

  He warbled an interested off-tune song.

  Aya’s lips twisted to the side. “I can’t imagine a safer escort. Bella, I hope we’ll have a picnic lunch with Jonah someday. Good luck.”

  Octopus Kong’s tentacle curled around her, securing her at the level of his plus-shaped eyes.

  She waved to Aya. “Thank you. Octopus Kong? Time to find Balim.” Searching her heart, she just knew which direction to go and she pointed. “That way.”

  The giant jetted across the city, flying over the bulbs until Atlantis was far behind and they plunged deep into the wild ocean. Octopus Kong seemed to enjoy the adventure, romping through the currents, twisting and turning, swooping low over the landscape and chasing giant crabs or strange, eyeless animals and then soaring up to fly with pods of giant blue whales. Great sharks veered away and giant squid fled. No one confronted the giant octopus yodeling like wheezy bagpipes were in style.

  Flying with Octopus Kong was exhilarating, like being on dragon-back. With that mindless freedom of the open road—the open ocean, in this case—Bella was left with her thoughts.

  Balim was her happiness and her sadness in one. Both feelings were okay. They could exist together. She treasured Balim and Jonah. She needed them both.

  The giant thundered over the distance and two small figures emerged against the backdrop of the brightly lit sea. Octopus Kong oriented on them.

  The back one stopped and looked. Aha! Nora.

  As Octopus Kong bore down on the pair of mer like an off-tune, tentacled cloud of doom, she focused on the warrior.

  Balim spun and gaped. “Bella!”

  She opened her arms wide, jumped off Octopus Kong’s outstretched tentacle, and barreled into Balim. They flew end over end.

  “How can you be here?” he demanded.

  “How dare you make me care about you and then break my heart!”

  He held her tight and trembled, wordless, as though afraid she was a dream and he was about to wake.

  But she was no dream, and there was no waking. They were in it together to the end, exiled or free. “You’re taking responsibility for that right now.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Balim’s heart soared as his beloved Bella crushed him in her embrace. Her fierce love was as brilliant as her soul. They flew end over end in the water, out of control, just like always.

  Together, they had the dangerous, overpowering resonance. He needed to control it. Because Bella had let go of her inhibitions.

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded for the second time. “Atlantis is safe. Your son—”

  “How dare you?” she demanded. “I tried everything not to love you. And yet you made me anyway. We are soul mates. You said it. We’re soul mates.”

  “I can never go back to Atlantis,” he vibrated, a catch in his chest.

  “Then neither will I.”

  “You were happy there.”

  “Being stuck there isn’t happiness! I’m happy with you.” Bella pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Yes, I’m sad about this. I’m sad about what you went through and what you’re going through now. I’m sad about Jonah. But I’m better and stronger because I’m with you. And I’ll never be happy in Atlantis without you both.”

  “I murdered a king.”

  “Did you?” She cocked her head. “Because that’s not what it sounded like to me.”

  “Any mer would know.”

  “Ciran knows, and he doesn’t blame you. You’re the reason he left. Because what happened to you was wrong, and all he wants is for you to be happy with me.”

  His determination fell apart like a pulled stitch. “He does?”

  “He does. They all do. Even King Kadir and Soren understand. They wanted to help us. Help you.”

  “But…I have a dark soul…”

  No one was safe around him. Bella was compelled by resonance—destiny, fate—but no one else could accept what he had done. Not Ciran. Not anyone…

  Beyond her, Nora held back stroking and cooing to Octopus Kong, who, like all warrior
s of the sea, basked in her bright soul light.

  “I have a dark soul…” he tried again, repeating the words that had tortured him. “I’m a useless warrior. I should have died.”

  “First, you need this.” Bella curled her arms around him and kissed him long and steady.

  His pulse leaped into his jaw and his veins opened up, flooding his cock with stiff heat. She was his female and he was her male. She was his soul mate.

  She deserved an honorable warrior, not a murderer.

  He kissed her despite this because he selfishly needed her more than life. And she needed him too. Joined without tricks, without barriers, without plastics. Skin to skin, emotion to emotion, soul to soul.

  But not in the middle of the open ocean in front of another bride and a giant cave guardian, no matter how they tried to pretend they weren’t paying attention.

  Bella pulled back with heated cheeks, glanced over her shoulder at Octopus Kong and Nora with a sigh, and tapped her forehead against his. “Later. Definitely later. At least twice.”

  His cock pulsed in acknowledgment.

  “Second, I only said I couldn’t murder a bunch of people who’d been nothing but nice to me, you included. I make no promises about what I’ll do to the Sons of Hercules organizer when I find him.”

  “I did not follow your Hippocratic ideal.”

  “Mermen don’t. You said so yourself.”

  “But I also did not follow the law of the mer.”

  “Ciran was there, and he thinks you were justified.”

  “But—”

  “Okay. You’re overly harsh on yourself.” She stroked his cheek. “The king threatened you. Self-defense isn’t a crime.”

  “I removed a cursed shard from a battlefield and tricked my king into infecting himself with it.”

  “You didn’t stab him with it in the night. There are degrees of guilt here.”

  “I left Undine without a healer.”

  “Technically, the king left them without a healer. And there were years between your father’s death and your leaving to groom another.”

  “In Undine, healers remain in one family line.”

  “So when the king evicted you from your castle, demoting and preventing you from being chosen by a bride to sire a son, this was, again, not your fault.”

  His stomach dropped. “Second Lieutenant Ciran told you?”

  “More importantly, he told me he was happy you now have a soul mate. Me. And it’s over, Balim. The cruelty you endured and the choices you made to survive will haunt you, but they’re over. You’re free.”

  She seemed serious, but how could he believe her? The accusing silence when he’d left Undine, the agony of the betrayed Atlantis warriors, and his own heart told the truth. Her words were his wish.

  “Do not wish away my crime. I must atone. I will never give you happiness like Jonah. I am not pure.”

  “Neither am I, and trust me, you’ll never replace Jonah. No one will ever replace Jonah. That’s what I realized. It’s why I’m here.” She pressed her palm to her chest. “Stay with me, Balim. We’ll be happy and sad together. That’s okay.”

  Her soul glowed with her faith.

  “You are happy now,” he accused.

  “Because I’m with you. Oh! Look.” She flexed her foot, and her fins unrolled. Her smile glowed, brilliant. “Somehow, as soon as I said ‘We’ll be happy and sad together and that’s okay,’ I felt deep inside I could make my fins. And now I am.”

  “You channeled your power.”

  They enjoyed the swirl and flash of Bella’s fins. The long trailing beauties were cream-colored and speckled with her freckle-tattoos just like the rest of her. He observed every detail. She was beautiful.

  And his.

  “It’s impossible to imagine breathing water when you’re in the air,” she mused, “and it’s impossible to imagine being happy when you’re drowning in sadness. But both worlds coexist. You dive back and forth between them. Zoan said it best. I have faith that no matter how sad I become, someday, I will once more be happy. And vice versa. And that’s okay.” She pulled him close. “So long as I’m with you.”

  He held her.

  She’d found her strength. Her queen power. He’d been wrong to think she wasn’t dedicated to Jonah because of her convictions. She was dedicated to justice and never gave up on Jonah no matter how dark his chances. She would never give up on Balim either. Not even if the rest of the world did.

  He’d always known he was beneath Jonah in her heart the same way he’d been beneath his father’s and prince’s memory in Undine. But Bella explained she loved Balim and also her son. He wasn’t beneath anyone. Her love coexisted.

  “You have changed.”

  “I couldn’t be happy while Jonah was sick,” she confessed. “It was supposed to be my last bargain with God. But really, it was the voice of my deepest fears inside me. My heart is bigger than one emotion. And so is yours.”

  His heart clenched.

  She was right.

  Confessing the truth of his past had lanced his inner wound. Earning her respect drained the infection and allowed healing.

  “I may never return to Atlantis,” he remembered, not able to release the last vestiges of his sadness.

  “Never say never.” She squinted at the distant mouth of a vast undersea tunnel. “Are we going in there?”

  “You cannot. The All-Council stronghold lies on the other side. I must go alone.”

  “Nice try.” She shook her head at him. “The warrior who administered the disease is not a fake. He’s connected to the Sons of Hercules. I promised Aya I’d find her answers. You’re not going alone.”

  Nora pulled closer now that their serious talk had finished. “A merman, two humans, and a giant octopus walk into a bar…”

  “And then what?” Bella asked.

  “I’ll tell you once I come up with the rest of the joke.”

  “That is no sand bar,” Balim corrected. “It is the Under-Continental Current and is well guarded by warriors. A giant cave guardian will be noticed.”

  “He can cause a distraction while we sneak in,” Nora suggested.

  “There are too many warriors.”

  “Okay, so we’re all the distraction. There’s Troy. Here’s our giant wooden horse.” She gestured behind them at the discordant Octopus Kong. “He can hide us in his tentacles. We pop out once we’re inside.”

  “He will never convey us.”

  “We don’t know that until we ask.”

  “Giant cave guardians are unpredictable and violent.”

  “That helps us.”

  Bella interrupted. “I asked, and he brought me to you.”

  The giant cave guardian ruffled his tentacles, plucked a passing flounder, and crunched it contentedly.

  “Such a radical plan has merit,” he conceded. “Healer Dalus’s training hall is distant from the main All-Council stronghold. Fewer warriors will chase after us. We could use the distraction to claim a secret audience with my mentor.”

  Bella approached the giant cave guardian with respect and explained their plan. “This could be dangerous.”

  He warbled something and curled his tentacles around them, even Balim, gathering them into his underside as the ocean closed into thick walls of rubbery tentacle.

  “He says, ‘Not for a giant octopus.’” Nora grinned, squishing against him and Bella as they twined together.

  “Do you truly understand his words?” Balim asked.

  “No. It’s a feeling.”

  “Bella?”

  “Same,” Bella said.

  “There’s no way this can go wrong,” Nora vibrated nervously.

  He held Bella closer. “For the sake of averting an incurable plague, I hope you are right.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The group sat tight while the giant cave guardian flew into the massive underwater hole that comprised the Under-Continental Current.

  Balim had been through it several
times during his training. Never in the tentacles of a giant cave guardian pressed against his soul mate while praying for their lives.

  The current forced them through, and the giant octopus navigated the tunnel, his warble changing from yowl to snarl and back again.

  Warriors’ shouts followed them, and Octopus Kong banged about, holding them tighter as he performed rolls and sweeps.

  Bella rested her head against Balim’s taut pectorals.

  Nora tried to hold herself steady. “It’s like riding in a barrel over Niagara Falls.”

  “Let’s hope we stick the landing.”

  The longer they continued on and the more aggressive the shouting pursuers sounded, the more Balim was grateful for the giant cave guardian and the queens who had partnered with him.

  Any other plan would have been suicide. The exile had clouded his mind. With Bella pressed against him, his mind cleared.

  So long as her faith in him was real, someday he could vanquish the darkness in his soul and be the warrior—and healer—she and her ill son needed.

  Someday.

  “Once we arrive near the healer’s hall, you and I will go out,” Balim told Bella, because he hinged his recovery on her strong, queenly presence. Being without her was nonnegotiable. “Queen Nora, you will remain with Octopus Kong and draw off enemies or stand lookout.”

  “Queen?” Nora cocked a brow. “Me? As if that will happen.”

  “Did you not drink elixir and transform? Did you not already make your fins? A flower will bloom for you. You are a destined queen of Atlantis.”

  Nora’s light swelled. She rubbed her mouth to hide her smile. “You’re the only one not trying to get in my pants, so I almost believe you.”

  “You are not wearing pants.”

  “Yeah, okay, Doc.” She dropped her hand, revealing her pleased grin, and peered through the tiny gaps Octopus Kong had kept between his tentacles to circulate water for them. “We’re coming up on a cliff.”

  “Overlooking a battlefield?” He gripped Bella’s hand. “Octopus Kong must release us and carry on with the distraction.”